Mexico didn’t do itself any favors with fumbles at Hannibal, and it was the same case Friday at Kirksville.

The Bulldogs lost three fumbles, including two that were picked up for touchdowns, to lose 42-15 and break a three-game winning streak against the longtime rival and district foe Kirksville (2-4). Mexico (3-3) did tie the game at 7 in the first quarter before Kirksville took a 35-7 lead at halftime and then went up 42-7.

Defensive coordinator Travis Simmons filled in as the head coach while Steve Haag served a one-game suspension from being tossed out at Hannibal, where Mexico lost three fumbles, during the previous week. Simmons said it was his first time in a head coaching role after spending at least seven years on the Mexico High School coaching staff. He said the coaches around him do well

“The coaching staff takes care of what they’re supposed to do,” Simmons said. “Everything was taken care of. It made it easier to get everything done.”

Simmons said the two scoop-and-scores by Blake Nesbitt in the second quarter already gave Kirksville a 14-point swing and some bad tackling added to it.

“We had two in the first half that directly led to scores,” Simmons said. “It’s just the small things. A lot of that stuff was on us.”

Kyler Benne scored on a quarterback sneak to tie the game and had 42 rushing yards on three attempts and 70 passing yards on two completions. Mexico wouldn’t score again until Kale Leverett secured a safety in the fourth quarter.

“Both sides of the ball are fundamentals,” Simmons said. “Holding onto the ball offensively and tackling on defense while getting off blocks. There’s no special sauce to it. It’s just straight up doing what we’re supposed to do.”

Simmons said Benne did well running with the ball out of the option, and Kael Smith and Connor Fisher ran well from the backfield. Smith led Mexico with 71 yards on 15 carries, and Fisher ran for 43 yards on seven carries. Fisher recovered from injury and ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“If you start to get that three-headed monster going, things get really good,” Simmons said.

Of course, Simmons is familiar with leading tackler Smith, and he added John Kelly has also done well in the linebacker corps. Smith, Kelly and Fisher each had six tackles to follow seven made by Logan Hilderman.

Mexico was outrushed by Kirksville 186 yards to 167. Kirksville quarterback Joel Feeney threw for 135 yards on 9-for-10 passing and ran for 37 yards on 11 carries.

Mexico plays Class 5 Rolla (2-3) for the first time at 7 p.m. Friday night for Homecoming. Prior to Mexico’s first meeting with these Bulldogs, Rolla defeated Class 4 No. 9 and Mexico’s district foe Moberly 35-22 this year.

“If you look at what they do on offense and defense, it’s very similar to what we do on both sides of the ball,” Simmons said. “You don’t have to do anything too crazy about adjustments and things like that.”